g an audience. Mere vocal persuasiveness did not serve to
arrest the flow of pedestrians, and so McWade's ingenuity was taxed.
But he was equal to the task; seldom did he fail of ideas, and, once he
had the attention of a crowd, the rest was easy.

One morning he and his partner provided themselves with some dice and
several hundred dollars in gold coin. With these they began shooting
craps on the sidewalk in front of their office. Now gambling was taboo,
hence the spectacle of two expensively dressed, eminently prosperous
men squatting upon their heels with a stack of double eagles before
them caused a sensation, and people halted to witness their impending
arrest. Soon traffic was blocked.

The gamblers remained engrossed in their pastime, as well they could,
having thoughtfully arranged the matter with the policeman on duty;
gravely they breathed upon the cubes; earnestly they called upon
"Little Joe," "Long Liz," "Ada," and the rest; silently they exchanged
their stacks of gold pieces as they won or lost.

Calvin Gray, but just arrived from Dallas, looked on at the game with
some curiosity, not divining its purpose, until McWade pocketed the
dice, then mounted a box at the curb and began, loudly:

"Now, gentlemen, that is one way of making money, but it is a foolish
and a hazardous way. There is a much saner, safer method, and I'm going
to tell you about it. Don't pass on until you hear me, for I have a
most incredible story to relate, and you'll be sorry you missed it."

There was a ripple of appreciative laughter, but the crowd pressed
closer as the orator continued:

"You've all heard about these 'doodlebugs' who go around locating oil
with a divining rod, haven't you? And you don't believe in them. Of
course you don't. Neither do I. I can't put any trust in willow twigs,
but--we'll all admit that there are forces of nature that we don't
understand. Who can explain the principle of magnetic attraction, for
instance? What causes the glowing splendor of the Aurora Borealis? What
force holds the compass needle to the north? What makes a carpet tack
jump onto a magnet like"--the speaker paused and stared hard at a
member of his audience who had passed a humorous remark at his
expense--"just like I'll jump you, stranger, if you don't keep your
trap closed. I say who can read those secrets, who can harness those
forces? The man who can has got the world by the tail and a downhill
pull. Now then, for the plot of m